where x is replaced by a number of course.But upon booting I cannot access the network or get online.I then type ifconfig -a and I can see that everything looks set, but it is not listed as up.So then I type the ifconfig and route commands into the command line and whammo I can get online just fine. Why? What am I leaving out? Do I need to add sudo before the commands? I have to be superuser to enter them into the command line. Thanks in advance!!

Thanks I tried that, no dice. I still have to go to netcardconfig or use ifconfig at the command line to get it to work. Could it be because DHCP is automatic when booting? Should I shut down the card first with "ipconfig eth0 down" and then try to bring it up??? Thanks again for your help.

Well, I have not done what you are trying, but I would try another approach if I didn't get it working the way you suggest. If you have anything on your network acting as a DHCP server, do you have the option enter your MAC address and have you router/firewall do 'dynamic static'/ IP assignments? If you do, you could have your router/firewall assign the same IP to that MAC address everytime it asks for an IP. I know that's not what you're looking for, but it would work if all else fails. Do you "need" a static IP ?